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Powermen on mass leave tomorrow
State to help in Met centre upgrade
President in state on five-day visit
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Probe into ‘single’ tenders begins
Golden Peacock for
Chamera-I
Pact for road project signed
Loan-waiver process set in motion
DLitt for Prof Gautam
1 killed in mishap
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Powermen on mass leave tomorrow
Shimla, May 27 Meanwhile, the functioning of the state electricity board was partially affected today as employees observed a pen-down and tool-down strike in protest against the move. The call for the strike was given by the State Electricity Board Employees Union. However, the union had exempted essential services from the strike. It also assured the consumers that any delay caused due to strike would be made up by putting in extra hours on May 28. The protesters wore black badges to show their resentment. General secretary of the union Deep Chand said the employees would go on casual leave en masse on May 29. He said president of the union Kuldeep Kharwara and general secretary of the State Power Engineers Association Suneel Grover would go Delhi and personally take up the matter for granting extension to the board to continue in the unbundled form with Union minister for power Sushil Shinde. The next course of action would depend on the response of the minister. The union warned the government that no public undertaking could function smoothly without cooperation of the employees. All attempts to dismember the board, to pave the way for its privatisation, would be opposed tooth and nail. HAMIRPUR: The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) JEs and Additional AEs Association has decided to wear black badges from May 29 to 31 in protest against the proposed trifurcation of the board. Daleep Singh Dhatwalia and Arun Gupta, president and general secretary of the association, respectively, accused the Central Government of bowing under the pressure of the World Bank, the IMF and MNCs. While Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had already written to the Union power minister about the state government’s aversion to the move, several other CMs, including Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, had also opposed the move, they said. They appealed to the members of the union to oppose the move with the same vigour with which they had implemented power projects and provided electricity in the state. They said their association had always welcomed initiatives aimed at improving the working of the board, but the abolition of the HPSEB in the name of reforms could not be allowed.
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State to help in Met centre upgrade
Shimla, May 27 This was stated by Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal while discussing the upgrading of the state-level meteorological centre with its director Manmohan Singh. “A meteorological centre with the latest equipment was of utmost importance to the state since major farming activities depend on rain and natural irrigation,” he said. Dhumal said some areas in the state were particularly vulnerable to cloudbursts, causing immense damage to life and property, besides washing away valuable farmland and orchards. “After the installation of sophisticated meteorological equipment, it will be possible to caution people about the impending natural calamities so that precautionary measures can be taken to save life and damage to the property,” he said. He said with the upgrading of the meteorological centre, the three airports at Kullu, Shimla and Kangra would benefit as aviation forecasting facility would also be available. “The three airports would be linked to high-speed data terminals, capable of making aviation forecasts to facilitate aircraft’s safe landing and take-offs,” he said. He said having aviation forecasting facility would go a long way in giving a boost to tourism. “Night landing facility would also be made available at airports as the matter had been taken with the civil aviation ministry,” he said. He said the state already had a network of about 60 helipads, which would be brought to use to give a boost to tourism. He said the local meteorological centre was equipped with speed-data terminal for sending weather data from Himachal to Delhi and receiving global weather data. He said it also had the digital meteorological data dissemination system for receiving satellite pictures, weather data and weather charts. |
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President in state on five-day visit
Shimla, May 27 The President landed at the Kalyani helipad in Charabra at 5.38 pm and drove straight to Retreat, the Rashtrapati Niwas. She is accompanied by her husband Devi Singh Shekhawat and 10 other family members. She was received at the helipad by Governor V.S. Kokje, Lady Governor Leena Kokje, Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh (MP), and General Officer in Commanding of the ARTRAC Lieut-Gen J.K. Mohanty. Ministers in the Dhumal government and other senior functionaries were also present at the airport. Army contingents presented an impressive guard of honour. A small cultural programme was also presented in honour of the President, who is visiting Himachal for the first time. The Chief Minister introduced her to his Cabinet colleagues, MLAs and senior bureaucrats. The President, who arrived here from Jammu, will return to Delhi on June 1. A civic reception will be held at the Ridge at 4 pm tomorrow while the Governor will host a diner at the Raj Bhawan on May 30. Patil is scheduled to visit Manali for a day on May 29. It is after a spell of over 12 years that the President will stay at the Retreat for five days. K.R. Narayanan was the last President to have spent some days there. President Kalam had stayed at the Retreat for a day only during his tenure. |
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Probe into ‘single’ tenders begins
Shimla, May 27 The bureau has sought details from the PWD and the IPH Department about the single tenders given during the Congress regime. The chargesheet prepared by the BJP while it was in opposition had alleged that the granting of work by both departments on single tenders was done with the motive of benefiting certain persons who were close to the Congress leadership. About 500 such tenders were allegedly allotted by the PWD involving an amount of over Rs 13 crore. These mainly pertained to roads constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) in various parts of the state. As per the BJP allegations in the
chargesheet, the Irrigation Department had also allotted single tenders to some contractors. It is alleged that there was no competition and tenders were not invited so that one contractor could benefit. “We have asked the PWD and the IPH authorities to furnish details about such tenders allotted during the past five years,” said a senior official. Prior to this, the bureau had initiated an inquiry into the upgrading of certain contractors’ raking from classes C and B to class A. It was alleged that this was also done to benefit a select few and those close to the Congress leadership. This allegation was also part of the BJP chargesheet that has now been handed over to the bureau for inquiry. The bureau is already in the process of obtaining information about the upside ranking of contractors in the PWD and the IPH Department. It was alleged that this was done in violation of norms and in some cases certain contractors had even furnished fake bank guarantees to get big contracts. Both the issues were raised in the Assembly by BJP members. At that time also, the government had said that in case there were any complaints, an inquiry would be held and the guilty
punished. |
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Golden Peacock for Chamera-I
Dalhousie, May 27 This prestigious award will be given during the Global Convention on Climate Change on May 31 at SM Convention Centre, Palampur, for excellent management efforts in occupational health and safety. The convention would be addressed by eminent speakers of the world like Dr Ola Ullsten, former Prime Minister of Sweden and Chairman of World Commission on Forests; Namo Narain Meena, union minister of state for environment and forests; Dr Oliver Giscard d Estaing, founder president of INSEAD France; Dr Madhav Mehra, president World Environment Foundation; Dr M.S. Swaminathan, Member Parliament and Father of India’s Green Revolution; Justice P.N. Bhagwati, chairman UN Human Rights Committee; Dr V.L. Chopra, world’s foremost agricultural scientist and member of India’s Planning Commission and P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and others. Disclosing this here today, Er Rakesh, general manager, Chamera Power Station-I, said the power station clinched this award leaving behind many other organisations. The power station had been accredited with ISO:14001:2004 certifications which was given to organisations showing excellence in the field of environment management and by meeting the standards of Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSAS) recently certified as 18001:2007, he said. The Chamera Power Stations-1 had also achieved Golden Peacock Management Award-2006 for its contribution towards excellence in the field of environment management, the general manager
added. |
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Pact for road project signed
Shimla, May 27 The agreement was signed on behalf of the state government by Arun Sharma, chief engineer-cum-project director, Himachal Pradesh Road Infrastructure Development Corporation, and director of the Chinese company Li Guangsheng. Public works minister Thakur Gulab Singh was also present on the occasion. The minister said the agreement had been signed for the construction of 80 km, two-lane project from Theog to Rohru at a cost of Rs 228 crore. The project is likely to be completed in 36 months. Earlier, a contract was signed with the company for the construction of the Mehatpur-Una road at a cost of Rs 126 crore. The minister hoped the project would be completed in time. |
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Loan-waiver process set in motion
Shimla, May 27 A spokesman of the bank said field functionaries had been advised to take necessary steps in that regard and prepare a complete list of eligible farmers by June 2008. The list would be displayed on the notice board of the bank branch concerned or the cooperative society from where the loan had been availed of on or before March 31, 2007. The farmers were advised to contact the branch managers to know more about the scheme already displayed on the notice boards. |
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DLitt for Prof Gautam
Shimla, May 27 The sample of his study included universities at Shimla, Chandigarh, Jammu, Kurukshetra and Amritsar. Besides studying the overall university administration of India, a comprehensive study of the sample universities was undertaken. He also undertook analysis of cases of paper-leakage, paper printing scams, fake-degree scandals and cases of sexual harassment in universities. |
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1 killed in mishap
Shimla, May 27 The ill-fated vehicle was on its way from Katgaon to Kandhar. While Jai Pal Singh of Kandhar died on spot, Mohinder and Ramesh, both from Kandhar, sustained multiple injuries. They were referred to the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, Rampur. The condition of the driver is critical. |
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